Berth-knee former



UNITED sTATEs PATENT onirica,

DONALD TAYLOR,l OF EAST BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BERTI-I-KNEE FORMER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 11,005, dated June 6, 1854.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, DONALD TAYLOR, of East Boston,f in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement, which I term a berth-knee former and which is for the use of ship-carpenters, the same being to enable them to ascertain the correct forms of overlapping berth-knees; and I do hereby declare, that the same is fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, letters, figures, and references thereof.

Of the said drawings Figure l, denotes a side view of the said instrument. Fig. 2, is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3, is a cross section of it taken through one of the rules A, B, to be hereinafter described.

In the said drawings, the said two rules A, B, are formed of bars of metal or wood, each of which is made with a slot, a, extending through it in one direction and also another slot, b, extending through it at right angles to the first, the whole being arranged as seen in the drawings. These two rulers or bars operate in connection with two parallel rulers or bars C, D, which are respectively provided with Aelongated slots 0, d, arranged as seen in Figs. l and 2, and are kept apart from one another by two circu lar rollers G, H, which have the same diam- .eter and are respectively arranged within the slots Z9, b, of the bars A, B, and have their axles extended through the other slots of said bars. The two bars. C, D, extend into the slots b, b, of the bars A, B, and they are held to said bars by means of screws, e, e, e, and clamping nuts f, f, f, arranged and applied as seen in the drawings, the bars A B turning freely on the clamps of said screws. There is also applied to the inner side of each bar A B, a flexible spring F, F, which is fastened at its outer end to a bar, while at or near its inner end it rests in a groove, g, ploughed longitudinally in the outer edge of the bar C. There is also another bar, I, arranged parallel to the bar D and connected to it by means of screws K, K, K, which extend thro-ugh the bar D, and screw through female screw plates L, L, L, fastened to said bar, the said screws being so applied to the bar, I, as to'be fastened to said bar and yet be capable of free rotation. The object of this latter bar, I, provided with screws and connected tothe 4thickness is illust-rated by dotted lines in Fig. 4, which serves to representtwo of the knees-one being seen at M and the other at N, and as placed between two berth timbers O P. Next the bar, I, is placed against the side of the vessel and the two rulers A, B, brought up against the inner sides of the two deck timbers O, P so that the outer edges of the rulers shall lay in Contact with ithe said inner `sides of the said timbers O, P. When this is done, the clamp nuts are to be turned down, so as to clamp the four rails A B, C, D, into the angular positions which they have. The instrument is now prepared for drafting the berth knees, the springs F F, indicating the curves to be given to them. If after this, we lay the instrument on a plane surface, and draw lines against the two outer edges of the rules A, B, and along their curved tops and around the springs, F, F, and along the outer edge of the bar, C, between the points where the bar is horizontal to said springs, and if we also draw a line along the outer edge of the bar, I, and another from some point in said outer edge of the bar, I, and near to the foot of the bar, A, tangentially to the spring F, we not only obtain the overlap line of the two knees, but at the same time we have given to us the form to which they are to be hewed.

The two rollers, Gr, H, serve to maintain the parallelism of the two bars C, D, under any circumstances.

My invention will be found to be of great advantage to ship carpenters in the construction ofnavigable vessels as by it they are enabled with great ease to obtain the correct forms of overlapping berth knees whatever may be the position of the deck timbers and side timbers or sides of a vessel with respect to one another.

I claiml The combination and arrangement of the side rulers or bars A, B, the slotted bars,

C, D, and the bar, I, with the springs, F, F, In testimony whereof, I have hereunto the friction rollers, Gr, H, and set 'screws set my signature this seventeenth day of K, K, (or their equivalents) whereby a per- February A. D. 1854.

son is enabled to adapt the instrument or DONALD TAYLOR.

5 berth knee former between any two tim- Witnesses:

bers and to the Width for the berth knees as R. H. EDDY, herein set forth. i F. P. HALE, Jr. 

